'The Charles Magnante Story', Wisconsin - USA Contributed
by Rob
Howard
Charles
Magnante (1905-86) was and is considered by many as one of the world's
great accordionists, and his arrangements and compositions are also
held in high regard. A long overdue study of the life and works
of Charles Magnante has now been made available, compiled, edited
and published by Dr Helmi Harrington, accordionist and curator of
'A World of Accordions Museum' in Superior, Wisconsin.
'The Charles Magnante Story' is a 150 page, spiral bound book that
contains a short autobiography, various illustrations, several essays
on the life and works of Magnante, and itemised detailed lists of
all Magnante's recordings, compositions, arrangements and tutor
books. The book thus provides both an engrossing self-portrait and
a complete overview of this outstanding accordionist's lifetime
achievements.
The book
also includes a 21 track CD of some of Maganate's classic recordings:
'Accordiana', 'Accordion Boogie', 'Dizzy Fingers', 'Flying Saucers',
'Green Light', 'Minuet in Jazz', 'Dance of the Comedians', 'Concertstueck',
'Flight of the Bumblebee', 'Holiday for Chord', 'Holiday for Bass',
'Hora Staccato', 'Malaguena', 'Perpetual Motion', 'Magnante Boogie',
'Gitanerias', 'Rhapsody in Blue', 'Andalucia', 'Espana Cani', 'Czardas'
(V. Monti) and 'Carnival of Venice'.
Salomón Canelo's Radio Broadcast, Santiago de Querétaro
- Mexico
Contributed by Rob
Howard
At
7pm on February 3rd accordionist Salomón Canelo gave a live
broadcast on Radio Queretaro, performing music from his new CD 'Vanguardia'.
The pieces performed, all composed by Salomón Canelo, were:
'Fenomeno de la Moncada'; 'Fiesta en la Moncada'; 'Sol de la Moncada';
'San Miguel Arcángel'; 'El Balcón de San Miguel';'El
Jardin de San Migue'l; 'Tarde Queretana'; 'Bonito Queretaro'; 'Adriana',
and 'Dios con Nosotros'.
The broadcast was made before a large studio audience, and was heard
throughout most of Mexico, and also worldwide via the Internet. Salomón's
instrument is a Venuti Universal accordion, made in Italy in 1931,
but personally restored and reconstructed by Canelo himself.
The son of the famous Mexican diatonic accordionist Red Salomón,
Canelo has been director of the school of music of the union of musicians
in Celaya, academic director of the union of musicians in the state
of Guanajuato, and at present he is director of the music school in
Vidargas. Salomon has made recordings on piano accordion, but is also
a pianist, organist, singer and percussionist.
'STAR
WAYS' International Accordion Competition, Kragujevac - Serbia-
Montenegro
Contributed by Holda
Paoletti-Kampl
The
3rd International Competition for Young Accordionists takes place
in Kragujevac, Serbia, from March 27th to 31st. This competition
is organized by the concert agency AD LIBITUM and the Kragujevac
Music School. The director of the competition, which caters for
both button and piano accordions, is Professor Radomir Tomic.
Ferran
Martinez's New CD, Barcelona - Spain
Contributed by Rob
Howard
Ferran
Martinez, Professor of Accordion at Barcelona Consevatory, has released
a new CD of popular evergreen accordion classics titled 'La Magia
Del Acordeon'. The tracks include such pieces as 'Adios Muchachos',
'Bamboleo', 'Begin the Beguine', 'Jealousy', 'La Paloma', 'Dark Eyes'
and 'Tico Tico'.
Music
and Philosophy by Plato, Athens - Greece
Contributed by Harley
Jones
The ancient
Greek philosopher Plato has an enduring reputation for reasoned
thinking. He observed the effect that music had on society in his
day and made this thought provoking statement: "In order to
take the spiritual temperature of an individual or society, one
must mark the music." He also wrote the following universal
truth:-
Mauro
Carra's UK Tour 2006
Contributed by Romano Viazzani
Mauro
Carra's recent first concert tour of the UK was a great success. Anyone
who attended any of the concerts, nine in total, can testify to the
astonished reaction of the audience to this young man's virtuosity
and musicality. The venues were packed out with keen accordion-lovers,
many of whom were surprised that Carra is a relatively young man with
his career still ahead of him. For his concert programme Carra performed
a good selection of music ranging from musette, jazz, accordion showpieces
and some contemporary variety pieces.
His pieces included Carlo Venturi's waltz 'Menestrello', the Art Van
Damme arrangement of 'Deep Purple', the contemporary piece 'Itto',
and Carra's own compositions 'Boulevarde Periferique' and 'Acrobatic
Mazurka'. His program also featured compositions by Frank Marocco,
namely 'Cynthia' and 'Ballade for Anne', and old favourites such as
Monti's 'Czardas' and 'Migliavacca'. Two rarely heard compositions:
Russ Messina's 1940's bop 'Breezin' Along' and Jerome
Richard's 'Casse Gueule' made a big impact. 'Armonica Indiavolata'
(G. Stok), 'Retour des Hirondelles' (Pagano/Trognée), 'Shopping
Valse' (C. Thomain), 'Puzzle Polka' (A.Musichini), 'La Tempète'
and 'Florette' (A.Astier), 'I need you' (M.Carra), 'Adrenaline Polka'
(M.Carra/I.Comandini), 'Accordion Rag' (J.Rossi/A.Astier) - were all
superbly interpreted to the delight of the audiences. As much of the
mainland was covered by the concert tour as was possible in the given
time. The venues included Uxbridge AC, Harlow AC, Guildford AC, White
Horse AC, Club Accord, Soar Valley AC, North Staffs AC, Stockport
AC, and Bruce Miller's music shop (Aberdeen) in Scotland.
At the end of each concert Mauro Carra was joined by his great friend
Romano Viazzani for some cracking duets, which included 'Elettrico'
(G. Stok), 'Tarantella Boogie' (Kramer/Wolmer), 'Indifference' (Colombo/Murena),
'La Cumparsita' (Rodriguez), 'Battagliero' (T.Pattacini) and the 'Carnival
of Venice'. In Aberdeen and Leicester half the concert was shared
with Romano Viazzani. In Harlow, Carra shared a concert with accordionist
David Vernon. The success of the Carra/Viazzani partnership has prompted
the duo to record an album together in the near future.
At each concert a big thank you went out to Beltrami Accordions and
to Accordion World magazine for their support in realizing this extremely
successful tour and, of course, to all the wonderful clubs and venues
for inviting Carra to play in the UK. Carra's next UK appearance will
be at The London World Music Festival, St Martin-in-the-Fields Church,
Trafalgar Square, London, on May 20th.
Sonata
for Accordion Performed by Composer, Wroclaw - Poland
Contributed by Rob
Howard
Olexiy Suslov
recently performed his own composition 'Sonata for Accordion, No
1' at the Villa Andrzejówka. Suslov plans to present this
composition at the 2007 'From Baroque To Jazz' International Festival
in Poland, performed by next year's prizewinners.
Martin
Lubenov's Jazzta Prasta CD and Tour, Vienna - Austria Contributed
by Holda
Paoletti-Kampl
Martin
Lubenov, originally from Bulgaria but now resident in Austria, is
one of the best-known Balkan style accordionists. Lubenov has, however,
taken traditional Balkan music and mixed in international influences
such as swing, modern jazz, tango nuevo, salsa and musette. In doing
this, he has been compared to Astor Piazzolla and Richard Galliano's
approach to tango and musette respectively.
'Jazzta
Prasta' is a quartet consisting of Martin Lubenov (accordion), Vladimir
Karparov (saxophone), Georg Breinschmid (string bass) and Ventsislav
Radev (drums). Lubenov leads 'Jazzta Prasta' in performing ethno
and original jazz, and in March 2006 the group will release a CD
titled 'Veselina'.
The tour
dates of 'Jazzta Prasta', mainly in Austria, are as follows:-
February
15th - Graz (Austria), Stockwerk
16th - Innsbruck, Kulturgasthaus Bierstindl
17th - Stuttgart (Germany), Laboratorium
18th - Feldkirchen (Austria), Kultur-Forum-Amthof
22nd - Bad Ischl, Lehartheater
26th - Vienna, (Martin Lubenov, solo) - Kunstlerhaus Theater, Accordion
Festival
March 8th - Landeck, Altes Kino
9th - Munich (Germany), Bayrischer Hof
10th - Lambach (Austria), Rossstall
11th - St. Florian, Altes Kino
25th - Vienna, Ost Klub, Ball des Österreichischen Friedensdienstes
Murl
Allen Sanders' Performance Schedule, Seattle - USA
Contributed by Rob
Howard
Accordionist
Murl Allen Sanders will be performing at the Thirteen Coins, Sea-Tac,
18000 International Boulevard, close to the SeaTac Airport, from 7.30pm
until midnight on the following dates:-
February 14th to 18th
March 13th to April 1st
May 9th to 13th
Murl is also performing at the Plymouth Congregational Church, Sixth
and University, Seattle, at noon on Wednesdays (except Feb. 22nd,
and March 1st and 22nd) with Susan Pascal and Phil Sparks. This is
a short mellow jazz worship service with a short sermon. Murl will
be the guest artiste at Salt Lake City Accordion Club on March 21st,
and on June 24th, he performs at the Leavenworth Accordion Celebration.
National
Accordion Fun Festival, Scotland - UK
Contributed by Rob
Howard
The
annual National Accordion Fun Festival takes place in Johnstone Town
Hall from February 24th to 26th, and is a competition aimed largely
at young accordionists. The festival involves performances by the
Brian Laurie Showband and the Iain MacPhail Scottish Dance Band.
Sharon
Shannon's Tour Dates, County Clare - Ireland Contributed
by Rob
Howard
Diatonic
accordionist Sharon Shannon has been recording since 1989. Her solo
CD, 'Sharon Shannon', in 1991 has become the most commercially successful
Irish traditional music album to date, and her subsequent releases
'Out the Gap', 'Each Little Thing', 'The Diamond Mountain Sessions',
'Libertango', 'Tunes' and 'The Sharon Shannon Collection' have also
all been best sellers.
Sharon Shannon is to tour Australia and New Zealand during March,
and the dates are as follows:-
March 1st and 2nd - The Beck's Verandah, Perth International Arts
Festival, Australia
March 4th and 5th - Wellington International Arts Festival, New
Zealand,
March 8th - Queensland Irish Association, Brisbane, Australia
9th - The Basement, Sydney
10th and 11th - Womadelaide Festival, Adelaide
12th and 13th - Port Fairy Folk Festival, Victoria
16th - Clfton Hill Hotel, Melbourne
17th, 18th and 19th - Commonwealth Games Performing Arts Cultural
Festival, Victoria
'Strauss
and Co' Concert, Manchester - UK Contributed
by Rob
Howard
On
March 5th, at 3pm, an Operetta concert involving an orchestra featuring
an accordionist and soloists from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,
London, will take place at William Hulme's Grammar School, Spring
Bridge Road, Whalley Range, Manchester. The concert will include music
by Strauss, Lehar, Kalman Stolz and many others. The event also includes
a glass of wine and a piece of Apfelstrudel or Sachertorte.
Richard
Galliano's 'Piazolla Forever' Tour of Europe
Contributed by Rob
Howard
French
accordionist Richard Galliano tours Europe with a concert program
titled 'Piazolla Forever' in March and April. Galliano will be performing
with the New York trio and vibraphone player Gary Burton.
March 11th - London, The Barbican
March 13th - Catania, Italy
March 15th - Roma, Italy
March 16th - Cite de la Musique, Paris, France
March 17th - Luxemburg
March 18th - Flagey, Brussels, Belgium
March 19th - Venice, Italy
March 20th - Pogobonsi, Italy
March 21st - Tonhalle, Zurich, Switz.
March 22nd- Bern, Switz.
March 24th - Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switz.
March 25th - Barcelona, Spain
March 26th - Madrid, Spain
March 28th - Monaco
March 29th - Maison de la Culture, Grenoble, France
March 31st - Arras, France
April 1st - Palais des Congres, LeMans, France
"Arrasate
Hiria" International Accordion Competition, Gipuzkoa - Spain
Contributed by Holda
Paoletti-Kampl
The
14th "Arrasate Hiria" International Accordion Competition
for soloists will be held from December 6th to 9th in Arrasate-Mondragón
(Basque Country), Spain. The event is organized by the 'Hauspoz' Euskal
Herriko Akordeoi Elkartea, the Town Hall of Arrasate, and the County
Council of Gipuzkoa. The competition will comprise of two rounds,
with competitors performing set and own choice pieces. Full details
are already available, and the closing date for entries is September
30th.
The United
States National Accordion News has been updated with the February
edition. Please visit to find out the latest US news, contact information
for the various accordion clubs and associations across the country
and upcoming events. Please use the submit form on the site to send
your news for publication.
Updated site for the Milwaukee
Accordion Club, featuring upcoming 2006 concerts for their 15th
Anniversary year. Among the star studded lineup include visiting artists
Copper Box, World Champion Peter Soave, Mariya Vlasovva & Kirill
Shytbin (winners of the 2005 Moscow Bayan Competition), entertainer
Robin Pluer, the Milwaukee Accordion Club Ensemble, Grammy Nominee
Kevin Solecki, Country Swing accordionist Ginny Mac, Dr. Lidia Kaminska,
Chicago Jazz accordionist John Simkus and immediate past president
of the ATG and concert accordionist Stas Venglevski.
Updated concert schedule of concert accordionist and recording artist
Stas
Venglevski
Updated information on the American
Accordionists Association (AAA) including detailed information
on events such as the July 12th to 16th Annual Competition and Festival,
the March 19th Open Meeting featuring guest artist Peter Soave, the
April 2nd 2006 Winery Scholarship Afternoon, and the 12th annual Master
Class and Concert series, moderated by Dr. William Schimmel.
Information
about the upcoming Accordionists
and Teachers Guild, International (ATG) festival from June 29
- July 2nd, 2006 at the Ramada Mall of America in Minneapolis, MN.
Yehuda
Oppenheimer releases 3 arrangements of 'Portuguese
Dance', 'Frailach'
and 'Alexandrova'.
Samples of the music are available online. The music is in eSheet
format, able to be emailed to your computer. Purchase with credit
card.
Gary
Dhal releases 3 arrangements of 'Les
Bicyclettes De Belsize', 'Pigalle'
and 'Under
Paris Skies'. Samples of the music are available online. The music is in eSheet
format, able to be emailed to your computer. Purchase with credit card.
Charles
Magnante (1905-86) was and is considered by many as one of the world's
great accordionists, and his arrangements and compositions are also
held in high regard. A long overdue study of the life and works
of Charles Magnante has now been made available, compiled, edited
and published by Dr Helmi Harrington, accordionist and curator of
'A World of Accordions Museum' in Superior, Wisconsin. 
At
7pm on February 3rd accordionist Salomón Canelo gave a live
broadcast on Radio Queretaro, performing music from his new CD 'Vanguardia'.
The pieces performed, all composed by Salomón Canelo, were:
'Fenomeno de la Moncada'; 'Fiesta en la Moncada'; 'Sol de la Moncada';
'San Miguel Arcángel'; 'El Balcón de San Miguel';'El
Jardin de San Migue'l; 'Tarde Queretana'; 'Bonito Queretaro'; 'Adriana',
and 'Dios con Nosotros'.
Ferran
Martinez's New CD, Barcelona - Spain
Mauro
Carra's recent first concert tour of the UK was a great success. Anyone
who attended any of the concerts, nine in total, can testify to the
astonished reaction of the audience to this young man's virtuosity
and musicality. The venues were packed out with keen accordion-lovers,
many of whom were surprised that Carra is a relatively young man with
his career still ahead of him. For his concert programme Carra performed
a good selection of music ranging from musette, jazz, accordion showpieces
and some contemporary variety pieces. 
Martin
Lubenov, originally from Bulgaria but now resident in Austria, is
one of the best-known Balkan style accordionists. Lubenov has, however,
taken traditional Balkan music and mixed in international influences
such as swing, modern jazz, tango nuevo, salsa and musette. In doing
this, he has been compared to Astor Piazzolla and Richard Galliano's
approach to tango and musette respectively.
Accordionist
Murl Allen Sanders will be performing at the Thirteen Coins, Sea-Tac,
18000 International Boulevard, close to the SeaTac Airport, from 7.30pm
until midnight on the following dates:- 
Diatonic
accordionist Sharon Shannon has been recording since 1989. Her solo
CD, 'Sharon Shannon', in 1991 has become the most commercially successful
Irish traditional music album to date, and her subsequent releases
'Out the Gap', 'Each Little Thing', 'The Diamond Mountain Sessions',
'Libertango', 'Tunes' and 'The Sharon Shannon Collection' have also
all been best sellers.
French
accordionist Richard Galliano tours Europe with a concert program
titled 'Piazolla Forever' in March and April. Galliano will be performing
with the New York trio and vibraphone player Gary Burton.
